The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.
Interpretation
True courage involves acting virtuously even when no one is watching.
This quote emphasizes the essence of courage as an internal virtue rather than a display for others. It suggests that the true measure of oneβs bravery lies in their ability to act rightly and with resolve regardless of external validation or observation, thus highlighting the integrity of personal conviction over the need for approval from others.
In practice
During a leadership speech, a speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of ethical decision-making.
The generality of virtuous women are like hidden treasures, they are safe only because nobody has sought after them.
Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.
Some counterfeits reproduce so very well the truth that it would be a flaw of judgment not to be deceived by them.
Conceit causes more conversation than wit.
The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body; after all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind, and they are in continual danger of breaking the skin and bursting out again.
To understand matters rightly we should understand their details; and as that knowledge is almost infinite, our knowledge is always superficial and imperfect.
If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.
A sound of cornered-animal fear and hate and surrender and defiance . . . like the last sound the treed and shot and falling animal makes as the dogs get him, when he finally doesn't care about anything but himself and his dying.
The athlete who is building muscles though weight training should be very sure to work adequately on speed and flexibility at the same time. In combat, without the prior attributes, a strong man will be like the bull with its colossal strength futilely pursuing the matador or like a low-geared truck chasing a rabbit.
You will be judged in years to come by how you responded to genocide on your watch.
Everyone thinks my story should be marked by heroism, but there was no risk to myself. You see, no-one in Prague at that time thought they were going to be at war with England.
Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.
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